South Korea implements energy saving measures

South Korea's government will begin enforcing a set of measures this week to reduce its electricity usage. 

The country's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said starting Tuesday, all public offices must maintain their indoor temperatures at 28 degrees celsius or above, with all commercial buildings also required to keep their temperatures at 26 degrees celsius or above, Yonhap News reported on Monday.

The energy saving measures will also include a strict ban on any store doing business with their doors open as a way of attracting customers off the street, while consuming electric power to keep their temperatures low at the same time.

Each violation will lead to a maximum fine of 3 million won (US$2,664) from the start of next month. The measures will be enforced until the end of August.

This comes after South Korea last month was forced to shut down two nuclear reactors while also delaying the scheduled operations of two newly built reactors due to various control cables of substandard quality that were supplied and used under fake test results and quality certificates, according to a separate Yonhap News report.

The shutdown had taken about 4 million kilowatts from the country's total generation capacity, which now stands at less than 77 million kilowatts. The ministry said the country's peak demand for power was expected to reach 78.7 million kilowatts this summer.